Maytag Atlantis Out of Balance Spin

[kenmore_elite]

Combo52, I'm still not entirely sure why it was vibrating so badly.

Thanks. I love saving old machines. I first spotted this washer a good year & 1/2 ago, sitting outside collecting leaves and rain water. I spun the dial and realized it had a timer instead of a darn electronic gizmo-switch. I thought about saving it at that time, then got busy with other things. At that time I had a newer electronic Maytag that I had hacked to fill the tub a little higher, but I got so tired of always having to lift the lid to reset the fill depth. Then I saw an older timer-dial Maytag at the local ReStore, but it sold for $250 before I could snag it. So I remembered this one and asked, and the owner said I could have it.

 

[kenmore_elite]

3 washes under my belt with this Maytag, and it is even better than I had hoped for. With the electronic Maytag that I had before this one, even tho I selected "Extra Rinse" everything came out smelling like the detergent. With this oldie-but-goodie Maytag everything comes out really fresh with no detergent smell. I LOVE IT! My jeans get cleaner too.

 

[oldschool88]

Great moves reviving the old Atlantis. I've had mine since 2005 and it's serviced our family of 4 very well despite being overloaded frequently, needing only a new belt every ~5 years or so. It developed the same spin balance issue you described at year 15 during the COVID lockdown and made a great project rehabilitating it. Attached pic shows the factory snubber when removed, damaged from never being properly leveled. Replacing this and leveling the washer completely cured the spin balance.

The transmission center gear later failed as another poster described, but I scored a complete high-torque transmission/bearings/seals kit and did the upgrade along with a new drain pump.

 

[kenmore_elite]

Thanks OldSchool. Can you describe the process to replace the trans center gear? My machine is noisy in the wash mode--though I'm not sure what normal is for this washer. How did you know the center gear was bad?

 

[whirlpool862]

I’m guessing the balance ring or the bottom suspension springs are bad

 

[goatfarmer]

I’m guessing the balance ring or the bottom suspension springs are bad

He's already fixed it....

 

[kenmore_elite]

OldSchool, do you have a part number for the trans rebuild kit?

 

[thatwasherguy]

The Norge washers that the Atlantis was based off of tended to be pretty noisy under normal operation, and the Atlantis machines shared that same trait. As such, it can be a bit difficult to determine what sounds are normal and what aren’t. On my machine, it always had a bit of a metallic clunk when it would switch direction on the agitation stroke, as well as an audible groan from the gears, similar to that of the Norge washers. However, before I fixed it, it also had a thumping sound that came and went that sounded like the gears weren’t meshing up just right during agitation. I believe this was due to the broken locking tabs just hanging out inside the transmission. It also had a strange whirring sound during the spin cycle resulting from the transmission not locking up. These both went away and never resurfaced with the new gear. Unfortunately, rebuild kits don’t exist for these transmissions. They were originally meant to be a throw-away item when they failed. As such, there was also no OEM gear available. They are still fixable, however. The transmissions can still be opened, as the top is crimped into position with metal tabs. The gear is available on Amazon through a company called MTC (Part # 20234). The center gear can fail in a variety of ways. I watched a YouTube video where one had stripped out teeth. On mine, however, the tabs on the side that lock the transmission up for the spin cycle had broken off, causing the machine to only be able to spin very slowly, and agitate at the same time. If you decide to replace your center gear, I would also bank on replacing the tub seal kit at the same time, as it will be next to impossible to remove without destroying. For the 2003 model I had, the part number was W10219156. Note that this P/N is only good for models equipped with the high torque transmission.

Hope this helps,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[kenmore_elite]

Thanks for that write up WasherGuy. I really appreciate your knowledge. I'll listen carefully on the next wash and try to describe the noises I hear. I see used transmissions on ebay, but I'm a bit reluctant to take a chance on one.

 

[kenmore_elite]

How can I determine my year of production? And how can I tell if I have a High Torque trans?

 

[oldschool88]

OldSchool, do you have a part number for the trans rebuild kit?

It's no longer available. Was part #35-6615 and came with the high torque transmission, spin bearing installed, tub seal & bearing, gaskets.

 

[thatwasherguy]

You’re welcome! This forum has helped me so much with my projects over the years, that it only feels right to contribute knowledge whenever I can. Your manufacture date can be determined through the two letters at the end of your serial number. The first letter indicates the year, and the second indicates the month. Electrical-Forensics.com has free to use charts that contain the deciding information. I’m not exactly sure how to tell whether or not the machine has a high torque transmission. Some machines will have a sticker inside, but mine came from the factory with a high torque, and had no sticker.

Hope this helps,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[kenmore_elite]

Wow. Thanks again. Mine was born March 2002.